The neurobiology of pain and itch

It does seem that there is always one more pain or itch meeting to attend, so why have we organized yet another? Our objective is to bring together a diverse group of outstanding scientists who are unraveling the intricacies of the circuits that process pain and itch and who are working on research questions where the biggest breakthroughs in our understanding of basic biology of pain and itch will derive.
On the one hand the focus is broad, as reflected in the title of the meeting: “The Neurobiology of Pain and Itch”, covering molecular mechanisms that operate at the level of the nociceptor, circuitry in the spinal cord dorsal horn, parallels and differences in the processing of pain and itch at the level of the dorsal horn and finally, imaging studies of the brain that hopefully address questions concerning the extent to which pain and itch messages remain segregated as they are transmitted from the periphery to the spinal cord to the brain. On the other hand, every effort will be made to seek common principles that operate at the different levels of the nervous system where pain and itch messages are processed.